Improvement in wood pavements



GEORGE F. ZIEGLER.

Improvement in w ood-Pavement s N0.127,669. Patentgdlune 4,1872.

1M. P/MTlJ-L/THOEIMPHIC cam IQSEOI'ME'S PROCESS) UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

GEORGE FREDERICK ZIEGLER, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN WOOD PAVEMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 127,669, dated June 4,1872 antedated May 21, 1872.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE FREDERICK ZIEGLER, of Jersey City, in thecounty of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented and made a newand useful Improvement in Pavements; and the following is declared to bea correct description thereof.

The object of this invention is to give a good foothold for horses 5 tosecure each block firmly by frictional contact with the next; and tovary the lines or angles of the joints between the blocks, so that thepavement cannot wear into ruts. Before my invention pavements had beenmade of cubical, hexagonal, and octagonal blocks laid together, and insome instances prismatic blocks have been employed to fill in theinterstices in such pavement.

My invention consists in a pavement composed of equilateral triangularprisms with rounded angles, so that there will be an opening where sixof these blocks set together, and this opening gives foothold for horsesby allowing the calks of the shoes to enter the same, and into thisopening a key or wedge may be driven for the purpose of binding theblocks firmly to each other, and when the said key passes down below thepavement it assists in holding the pavement in place upon thefoundation. A pavement made in this manner has a surface composed ofequilateral triangles rounded at the corners, and these corners beingnarrower are worn away more rapidly than the central portions of thetriangle, and thereby the block wears sufliciently convex to furnish thenecessary foothold for horses.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan of a portion of pavement laid with myimproved blocks, and Fig. 2 is a section of the same at the line a: no.

The prismatic blocks are to be made with fiat triangular ends, as shownat a a, where wooden blocks are used, or with ends more or less rounded,as at b b, when the blocks are of stone, and the angles are rounded orpar tially removed, so as to form openings between each six intersectingblocks for the reception of wedges or keys 0 0. These wedges or keysshould be of metal when used with stone, and when made of wood should beof sufficient length to hold the pavement firmly down upon thefoundation, as well as to wedge the blocks and bind them together. Thejoints between the blocks are not continuous in any direction, and mostof them are at an oblique angle to the line of travel. The openingsbetween the blocks give a good foothold for horses, and the wheels ofvehicles in passing rest upon the surfaces of the blocks without theconcussion usual in pavements where the joints are at right angles tothe lines of travel hence, this pavement will be very easy fortravelling upon. When wooden prisms are employed, I sometimes employdowels t, inserted in one block and entering ahole in the other to aidin supporting all.the blocks at a uniform height, as shown in Fig. 2,and by dotted lines in Fig. 1. Sand or any other ma terial may be usedas a foundation for the stone or wood blocks, and as a filling betweensuch blocks.

I claim as my invention- 1. A pavement composed of equilateraltriangular prisms with rounded angles, so as to form openings betweenthe blocks as laid together, for the purposes and as set forth.

2. The triangular prismatic blocks laid together hexagonally, incombination with the keys or wedges c 0, as and for the purposes setforth.

Signed by me this 6th day of September, 1870.

GEO. FREDK. ZIEGLER.

Witnesses OEAs. H. SMITH, GEo. T. PINoKNEY.

